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Eastern Illinois fifth-year
Adam Swanson and Southeast Missouri graduate student
Hannah Eastman were named the 2023 OVC Male and Female Cross Country Athletes of the Year in a vote of league head coaches on the eve of the 2023 OVC Cross Country Championship.
In addition, Southern Indiana’s
Alex Nolan and
Zoe Seward were named the 2023 OVC Freshmen of the Year.
Prior to the 2011 season the awards for the top honors in cross country were determined by placement at the OVC Championship but were changed to a vote in 2011. This year's OVC Championship will be held on Saturday, October 28 at Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, Kentucky. Following the race, the awards for Athletes of the Championships, Coach of the Year and the All-OVC teams will be awarded.
Swanson was the top runner for EIU all season long and recorded the fastest 8K time in the OVC this year (23:48.9), which was 34 seconds better than the next competitor in the league. That time came at the Louisville Cross Country Classic on September 30 where he placed fifth in a field of 378 runners. He opened the season by winning the Walt Crawford Open and followed that with a fourth place finish at the Illinois State Redbird Invitational. In his last outing, Swanson was third out of 199 runners at the Bradley “Pink” Classic, a meet that included eight regionally-ranked teams. Twice during the year he was named the OVC Runner of the Week. In marks the third-straight season and seventh time overall an EIU runner has won this award.
Eastman was consistent for Southeast Missouri this season, leading the Redhawks at four events, being named OVC Runner of the Week three times and twice breaking the school record in the 6K. She opened the year by winning the Redhawk Cross Country Invite by nearly 20 seconds. She followed that by turning in the top 5K time in the OVC in 2023, running a 17:35.5 at the John McNichols Invitational; she placed sixth overall and set a new personal-best by 39 seconds. She followed that by breaking the SEMO 6K record for the first time, finishing 10th out of 227 runners at the Missouri Gans Creek Classic. Two weeks later she broke that time with a 21:12.0 when she was third at the Angel Mounds Invitational. Eastman is the fifth SEMO runner to win this award and first since the 2020 season.
After redshirting a season ago. Nolan opened his collegiate career with a second-place finish at the Stegemoller Classic in September. He followed that by placing 46th in a loaded field at the John McNichols Invitational. Two weeks later he trimmed over two minutes off his 8K time, finishing in 25:03.2 at the Louisville Cross Country Classic. That time marked the eighth-best in the OVC in 2023. In his last meet, Nolan was 10th out of 167 competitors at the Angel Mounds Invitational.
In her first season, Seward was a force for the USI team, winning her first collegiate meet, the Stegemoller Classic, in September; that marked the best 4K time in the league this season (13:47.7). At the John McNichols Invitational she posted what turned out to be the fourth-best 5K time in the OVC (17:50.7), placing 16th in a field of 182. She capped the regular season with a 6K time of 21:40.0 (the third-best in the OVC in 2023) at the Angel Mounds Invitational, where she finished eighth out of 165 runners.